


Love at 4°

by Leidolette



Category: Fargo (2014)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Missing Scene, Pregnancy, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-17
Updated: 2014-10-17
Packaged: 2018-02-21 14:07:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,178
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2470934
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Leidolette/pseuds/Leidolette
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Molly and Gus go ice fishing, but not everything is frozen.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Love at 4°

**Author's Note:**

  * For [fleurlb](https://archiveofourown.org/users/fleurlb/gifts).



The sky was still black when she looked out the window, with a smattering of stars, even though it was nearing seven o'clock. And it was a cold one today. Clear too, but then they usually went together. Winter was in full-swing, no doubt about it, but Molly herself was warm and sleepy at the kitchen table, waiting for her breakfast. 

Gus rubbed his eyes as he fried up some french toast for the both of them, which she piled liberally with syrup and strawberries when he set her plate in front of her. She'd never been a petite eater, but pregnancy had made her ravenous. She was six months along now, and sometimes it seemed like she was eating them out of house and home.

Greta had made noises about wanting to come with them, but when Gus had knocked on her door this morning she had groaned and rolled over and refused to get out of bed even when Molly had said there would be a warm breakfast. Greta was a good girl, but she was as sleepy as any other teen and sometimes just as capricious. 

She finished up her last bite just in time to see Gus set his fork down.

"Ready to go?"

Gus had already warmed up the car, which Molly was grateful for when she took her first lungful of cold morning air. She hurriedly shut her door, and then they were on their way to the lake.

"Bruce said that we might have some luck over an old dredged area by the empty boathouse," Gus said after a bit of driving. Bruce was one of the people served by Gus' mail route. He was retired, and a talker, so when Gus came around, more often then not, Bruce was there to chat with him. Molly privately thought Bruce was thrilled that there was a new mailman who hadn't already heard all his old stories. 

"I suppose we should take his advice. It's been so long since I've been to this lake, I think I was a teenager the last time I came, and in the summertime too," she said, "I suppose there will be a couple less teens making out in the boathouse now that it's in the single digits."

"Oh, I don't know, some folks could be making out in the boathouse. Maybe not _teens_ though." He looked at her slyly. Molly laughed and softly elbowed him in the side. 

\-----

When they arrived, the lake was even prettier than Molly remembered. Snowy pines lined the shore and what few houses and cottages there were were all on the far side of the lake. It was just her and Gus. 

It was relatively easy to trek their gear to the spot in front of the boathouse. The auger sputtered a few times, and for a moment there the whole trip was put into doubt, but then the old thing started up and Gus got to work drilling the hole.

The sky was really starting to brighten up in the East. The sun must have made it over the horizon, but it still wasn't high enough to show over the ring of trees around the lake.

They got their poles out and untangled the lined and baited the hooks. Neither of them were especially avid anglers, Molly left that to her dad, but they both enjoyed it and as Molly dropped her line into the water she smiled at Gus and he shot a quick one back. 

Bruce must have known his stuff, because it wasn't too long after they put their poles in that Gus was reeling in smallmouth bass just a little too small to keep. He threw it back, but soon they both had a couple that were keepers.

When there was a lull, Molly took out the long thermos of hot chocolate that had been nice and warm in her pocket and poured cups for both of them. 

They wouldn't stay out long. Without an ice shanty and with Molly's growing belly, neither of them were inclined to spend the whole day out here. At the very least, Molly's diminished bladder would drive them away eventually. Gus had fretted over even coming, saying that she way getting pretty far along and that maybe it wasn't such a good idea for her to be out in the cold for so long. She'd settled him pretty quick, though. She was still moving pretty smoothly and it had been an easy pregnancy so far, knock on wood.

She finished the last of her hot chocolate just as the sun made it over the pines. 

"Oh boy, would you look at that," Gus said, sounding pleased. Molly agreed with him. She'd seen a lot of sunsets over lakes, but not so many sun _rises_ , and this one was beautiful. She looked at sky and the clouds turning from navy and lavender to pink. 'Rosy-fingered dawn', she remembered from school. She always could remember little things from school and books, and sometimes they came to her at the strangest times.

Molly turned back to Gus and studied his face as he took in the sunrise. He looked beautiful too. The light made his face all golden and colored his quietly happy expression. She thought it looked like all the goodness inside of him was glowing on the outside, right there for everyone to see.

There were a couple more nibbles and Molly reeled in a tiny perch far under the limit. She had to take her gloves off to remove the hook from the little thing. After she threw it back, Gus rubbed her hands and stuck them in his coat pocket with a hand warmer at the bottom. She laughed, but she felt warm all over. 

Then she heard the strangest sound.

It sounded almost like a whale to Molly, or something else big and unfathomable. It was the ice beneath her feet and all around her, nature itself creaking and singing. 

"What is that?!" Gus shot to his feet. His eyes darted around the ice, checking for cracks.

Molly's memory stirred again. "I think it's the sun."

Gus gave her a look. "The sun is making that sound," he said flatly.

"No, no. The sun is warming the ice, which makes it expand and rub against itself and the shore."

"Huh," he said, and sat back down. He listened to the ethereal noise for a few more seconds. "You know, it's kinda pretty. A little bit like whale song."

Molly laughed. "I was just thinking that."

The singing got louder, and then for a moment it felt like the sound was inside her, vibrating her bones, but then she realized it was the baby kicking. Molly reached for Gus' hand and pressed against her belly. She didn't know if be could feel anything beneath her thick coat, and Gus had felt the baby kicking before anyways, but he looked at her with the clearest eyes and with the morning sun still brightening his face - and smiled. 

She loved this man.


End file.
